U.S. veterans groups take shutdown protest to White House gates

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veteran and Tea Party groups protested the U.S. government shutdown in Washington on Sunday, taking down barricades around the World War Two memorial on the National Mall before marching to the gates of the White House.

Police officers, some in riot gear, pushed back against the crowd when it got too close to the White House fence, creating a brief flashpoint of anger in an otherwise peaceful demonstration.

The White House protest, which involved hundreds of people, quickly dissipated and the demonstrators were replaced by tourists taking photos of themselves with camera phones.

Don Armstrong, a veteran who served in Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan from 1993 to 2006, said he drove to the protest from his home in West Virginia because he worries the government shutdown will soon affect the benefits and disability payments he relies on to feed his family.

"In a war, there's strategies," Armstrong told Reuters. "What they're doing is playing roulette with people's lives."

Sunday's rally started on the National Mall, which is home to U.S. war memorials and has been mainly closed to tourists since October 1 when Congress failed to agree to continue funding the federal government, closing down services deemed "non-essential."

The rally included speeches from Sarah Palin, a hero of the conservative Tea Party movement and former Republican governor of Alaska, and Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican senator who has crusaded against Obama's healthcare law.

Melissa Mather, who heard about the rally from patriot groups she supports, called the memorial closure "a slap in the face to all Americans" and said she thinks that President Barack Obama and all lawmakers should resign.

"I just want to take them all and shake them," said Mather, from Havre de Grace, Maryland.

While some Republican lawmakers and Tea Party groups have seized on the memorial shutdowns to make political arguments, Armstrong, who said he had debated whether he could afford to burn though a quarter-tank of gas to drive to the rally, said both parties in Congress and the White House were to blame.

"I'm not a Democrat or Republican or anything like that," he said. "I blame them all."

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told Congress last week that veterans' benefits would end on November 1 if the shutdown does not end soon.

The shutdown has also affected the Defense Department's ability to pay death benefits to the families of military personnel killed in action, but the Pentagon struck a deal with a private charity to make the $100,000 payments during the shutdown.

Obama was at the White House on Sunday as Senate leaders met on Capitol Hill to try to work out a deal that would allow for the reopening of government by increasing the U.S. government borrowing limit by a Thursday deadline and avoid a first ever U.S. debt default.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-veterans-groups-shutdown-protest-white-house-gates-201113503--business.html
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Sign of U.S. debt deal boosts shares, dollar

By Richard Hubbard

LONDON (Reuters) - Cautious optimism that the U.S. government would avert an economically damaging debt default lifted world shares and supported the dollar on Tuesday though prices traded within tight ranges.

The hopes for a deal rose after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, ended a day of talks on Monday, with Reid saying they had made "tremendous progress".

While markets remain wary over the eventual outcome, the signs of a last minute deal lifted Europe's blue chip index, the Euro STOXX 50, by 0.4 percent to reach a 2-1/2-year high. Germany's DAX touched a record peak.

"Optimism that a deal will soon be agreed continues to prevail. Relief that politicians have taken the U.S. to the edge and back again is clear," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Earlier, the more bullish sentiment had boosted Asian shares to their highest in nearly five months and seen Japan's Nikkei gain 0.25 percent to be near a two-week peak.

The gains around the world have lifted MSCI's world equity index, which tracks share in 45 countries, by 0.2 percent, leaving it just three points below a five-year high hit in mid-September before the crisis in Washington began.

DOLLAR FIRM

The dollar meanwhile was holding firm against most major currencies, having suffered the most from fears that the political dysfunction in Washington could leave the U.S. struggling to service its massive debts.

Any gains in the dollar are seen as limited as the government shutdown forced by the political impasse is expected to have hurt the U.S. economic recovery and convinced many that the Federal Reserve will have to extend its monetary stimulus.

"If we get some kind of temporary resolution in the U.S. it will still have a small positive short-term impact on the dollar. But in the medium term this is clearly dollar negative," said Richard Falkenhall, currency strategist at SEB.

The greenback reached a peak of 98.71 yen, before giving up gains to trade at 98.47 yen, down 0.1 percent. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar stood at 80.29, some distance above the eight-month low of 79.63 hit earlier this month when the government began a partial shutdown.

The euro was little changed at $1.3557, well within a recent trading band of $1.35 to $1.36.

Elsewhere in the currency market, the Australian dollar jumped to a four-month high when minutes of the central bank's October 1 meeting revealed it was prepared to cut interest rates further though it was in no hurry to act.

EUROPE RECOVERY

Aside from the U.S. budget negotiations, European traders were looking ahead to the release of Germany's ZEW sentiment survey which is expected to stay high as evidence mounts of a fragile recovery spreading across the euro area.

Separate data on price pressures in Britain are forecast to show inflation to have eased slightly although it remains well above the Bank of England's two percent target.

German 10-year government bond yield were at their highest levels in three weeks, up 3.5 basis points at 1.9 percent, ahead of the ZEW data thanks to the easing of tension over the prospect of the U.S. debt default.

Gold, whose safe-haven appeal is usually burnished during times of uncertainty, was steady but near 3-month lows having lost about 4 percent in value to be below $1,300 an ounce since a partial government shutdown began on October 1.

It traded down 0.1 percent at $1,271.50 an ounce.

In addition to the U.S. budget negotiations, oil traders were keeping an eye on talks in Geneva over Iran's nuclear program that might eventually lead to a pick-up in its oil shipments.

On Monday the United States held out the prospect of quick relief from sanctions for Iran if Tehran moved swiftly to allay concerns about its program though any deal on this issue . could take some time.

Brent crude futures were trading 10 cents up at $111.15 a barrel at 0345 EDT, after ending lower in the two previous sessions.

(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash and Jessica Mortimer; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-hit-near-five-month-high-u-010815386--finance.html
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Lauren Conrad Is Engaged to Boyfriend William Tell!

The Hills star and her beau are getting married! See more stars who are planning to tie the knot.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/engaged-celebrities-they-put-ring-it/1-b-277661?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aengaged-celebrities-they-put-ring-it-277661
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Source: http://cavilaciones-enmerkar.blogspot.com/2013/10/advance-cash-payday-loan-instant-access.html
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Verlander back in form at the perfect time

DETROIT (AP) — A season's worth of tinkering finally paid off for Justin Verlander.

For months, the Detroit right-hander insisted he was on the verge of finding the MVP form that had deserted him. Although that seemed like a false hope for a while, Verlander was at his best when the Tigers needed him most.

For a second straight season, Verlander delivered in Game 5 of the AL division series. He produced an eight-inning masterpiece Thursday night that eliminated Oakland and sent Detroit to its third straight AL championship series.

The Tigers next face the Red Sox, with the opener Saturday night in Boston.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/verlander-back-form-perfect-time-170330380--spt.html
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